St Joseph’s zeppole are a Campanian pastry traditionally eaten on 19 March, St Joseph’s Day and Father’s Day in Italy. (Campania regional authority).
This recipe combines choux pastry, pastry cream and sour cherries, with two cooking options: frying or baking.
Zeppole di San Giuseppe, recipe of Neapolitan tradition
Photos by Loriana on Flickr
- 50 g butter
- 250 ml water
- 250 g Italian “00” flour
- a pinch of salt
- 4 medium eggs
- 500 ml whole milk
- 50 g cornstarch
- 1 vanilla bean, or vanilla flavouring
- sour cherries in syrup, for decorating
- seed oil or peanut oil, for frying
- 3 egg yolks
- 80 g caster sugar or cane sugar
Prepare the pastry cream first so that it can cool before you make the zeppole.
- For the pastry cream, mix the egg yolks with the sugar and beat well until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage.
- Meanwhile, heat the milk in a saucepan with the vanilla bean without letting it boil.
- Add the cornstarch to the egg-yolk mixture, stir, then gradually pour in the milk.
Return the mixture to the heat and cook until thickened, then leave the pastry cream to cool.
How do you make zeppole?
Once the pastry cream is ready, prepare the choux pastry for the zeppole.
For the choux pastry, place the butter, water and pinch of salt in a saucepan and heat until the butter has completely melted.
Add the flour all at once, mix quickly and cook until the dough forms a ball that pulls away easily from the sides of the pan.
Leave the mixture to cool completely; this is necessary for a smooth choux pastry.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing vigorously.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe rings.
Choose the cooking method: for baked zeppole, place the rings on baking paper and bake at 200 °C for 15 minutes;
for fried zeppole, pipe the rings directly into hot oil and fry for a few minutes.
Fill the zeppole with pastry cream, top with a drained sour cherry in syrup and dust with icing sugar.
Tools and ingredients used in this recipe, with links to the Tutto Pasticceria shop.
